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A unique collaboration between The Foundation, London College of Fashion and HMP Send.

This magazine, funded by Sir John Cass’s Foundation, represents the third collaboration between London College of Fashion (LCF) and Send and is the result of several months of Friday morning‘workshops’ where participants from Send and LCF have worked together to come up with content deemed relevant, informative and refreshing.

Detail from ‘The Beauty’s Inside’ Magazine

Underpinning the project was the desire for Send women to take ownership of the publication (which they certainly did, and then some!). As well as exploring issues closest to the hearts of Send residents – from spiritual needs to horticultural appreciation, what to wear during visiting time and what to include in your “14 tops and 10 bottoms” – the highlight of the sessions was, undoubtedly, the photoshoot. Having received permission to bring in a camera (from wonderful governor, Karen Elgar – thank you!), four brilliant fashion photography students came and undertook a very special
fashion assignment on the hottest day in May, with models styled using clothes from Send’s on-site second hand clothing boutique, SendSation.

Hair, not just clothes, rates equally highly as an outlet of self-expression at Send, which explains our second fashion shoot. The hair was styled by a very talented woman from Send who hopes to make a career in hair styling upon leaving. She was very ably assisted by one of the LCF Creative Direction students, and we predict huge success for these two.

Besides using the magazine as a vehicle to explore and hone raw talent – and showcase fashion awareness at Send – the women were also keen to present the many positive ways in which women can help themselves during their sentences, as illustrated in a number of features. In the year that Send acknowledges its 50th birthday as a prison, perhaps it is this, above all, that truly provides cause for celebration and inspiration.

The 50th anniversary theme continues throughout the magazine, as we look back at the way things were 50 years ago, and the developments at Send since that time. Finally, LCF students felt very much at home at Send given its huge Arts sensibility (thanks, in part, to the nearby Watts Gallery), so to
those who showed us their art, textiles, clothing and writing, we say: “Keep at it!”.